One Life Studios celebrates ten years of bringing Indian Stories to the world

One Life Studios (OLS) the leading independent Indian media company operating across content production, acquisition, distribution, and syndication is celebrating ten years in business during MIPCOM with two major announcements: the launch of kids animation IP Raaya: The Great Indian Tales, and a licensing deal with British Columbia’s Knowledge Network for two seasons of docuseries Rocket Boys. Licensed from Sony and distributed to Knowledge Network by One Life Studios.

Raaya: Great Indian Tales launches at MIPJunior and MIPCOM as a major animation IP.  A live character is roaming the halls of the Palais des Festivals, engaging with delegates and distributing fun game pieces encouraging visits to the One Life Studios’ booth P-1, K11 where they can collect the entire deck of beautiful game cards. 

Raaya is an inquisitive 9-year-old Indian girl who is curious, funny, emotionally honest and occasionally inconvenient in the ways curious children are. Her young mission is to question everything -- from the symbols of Indian history and religion to nature and to the universe at large. She is helped in her quest by her Uncle Al, a narrator keeping the Indian tradition of passing stories from one generation to the next, as well as Veda her AI bot who can provide her with instant knowledge. Raaya must decipher the answers from the two, thinking carefully on how to uncover the true meaning of each query. In Raaya’s world, oral tradition meets the search engine with a precocious child in between.  

One Life Studios agreement with the Knowledge Network brings the acclaimed Indian biographical drama series Rocket Boys to audiences across British Columbia through an established Canadian public broadcaster. The deal is under a four-year, five-month, non-exclusive term. Each season is eight episodes of 60 minutes each.  Rights include free English-language telecast through permitted simultaneous linear broadcast distribution and reception methods, including cable, satellite, IPTV, mobile/wireless transmission and simultaneous broadband streaming, as contracted.

Rocket Boys dramatizes the lives and friendship of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, two pioneering Indian scientists whose work helped shape the country's nuclear and space programmes. The series explores science and innovation, space exploration, nuclear science, scientific institution-building, friendship, ambition, personal sacrifice and nation-building during the formative years of independent India.

Bhabha was instrumental in establishing India's nuclear science infrastructure and played a central role in the creation of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, later renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre while Sarabhai was one of the principal architects of India's space programme and played a major role in developing India's early rocket-launching and space infrastructure.

Awards for Rocket Boys:   Filmfare OTT Awards 2022  (15 nominations | 8 wins); the wins Best Series;  Best Director – Abhay Pannu; Best Actor, Series – Critics (Male) – Jim Sarbh; Best Original Screenplay; Best Cinematography; Best Production Design; Best Costume Design; Best VFX; and the series and its creative team have also received recognition across the Indian Television Academy Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Indian Telly Streaming Awards, Hitlist OTT Awards, Promax Asia, etc.

Siddharth Kumar Tewary, CEO of One Life Studios said: 'One Life Studios is thrilled to be at both MIPJunior and MIPCOM as we celebrate ten years of bringing compelling Indian stories to audiences around the world. This milestone year comes with exciting new developments, including the launch of our new animated children’s IP, Raaya: The Great Indian Tales, and our partnership with Canada’s The Knowledge Network to license the multi-award-winning docuseries Rocket Boys, telling the extraordinary story of two pioneering Indian scientists. These events reflect our continued international strategy: taking distinctive Indian stories and premium content to audiences and partners across global markets, while building meaningful connections through stories that have universal appeal'.

David Van Poppel, Senior Manager, Primetime Programming & Acquisitions, Knowledge Network said, 'We’re thrilled to have the Canadian broadcast premiere of the series Rocket Boys. BC audiences include over 300,000 people of Indian origin, some whose ancestors arrived in BC in the late 1800s. We look forward to sharing the series with our audiences in British Columbia'.

 

 

LC